Support Your Plants

My Dad will not grow tall plants in his garden as he says they flop over and look messy. He has yet to listen to me and pop plant supports in place way before the plant has a chance to get tall. As a result he misses out on those tall statuesque towers of blooms which taller plants provide.

I could not imagine my garden bereft of height in the borders and I use plant supports to help Peony Roses, Lupins, Salvia Amistad and even Chives, to withstand wind and rain and remain uprightly proud.

For the Peony Roses, I use these metal peony cage style supports. They are strong but easy to push into the ground while the Peony is just beginning to start into growth. They provide a strong structure for the plant to lean against if it needs to but does not allow it to flop over. These were a great purchase as they also look decorative in the border whilst waiting for the plant’s foliage to fan out.

Last year, my first flush of Lupins were battered and lost in late June storms and to see those gorgeous spikes snapped over almost brought me to tears. Not so this year, in went the plant supports and the Lupins have grown very happily through the grid and been supported all Summer long to produce those bountiful blooms. I have eleven Lupins dotted around the garden but only support two which seem to be in a wind tunnel, they are also my favourite two as they produce the tallest flower spires but we won’t let the others know that!

I find Salvia Amistad such a delicate plant in the garden: the least wind and the stems snap or lean over to the side so they get supported from early on in the season when they are little more than twiggy growth. This of course is last year’s growth which is then cut down to allow the new green growth to burst from the ground.

I have lots of Chives dotted around the garden which we use both for chopping and using as spring onions and as a lovely pop of purple in the borders. They are a floppy, messy plant but with this support which has three horizontal rings which can be moved up as the plant grows, they are now standing tall too so the purple pompom heads can proudly be seen and the bees can get them in abundance.

So don’t despair if you are forever lamenting the tall plants in your garden flopping over or snapping, have a look at some plant supports which would suit the type of plant you wish to keep upright and fall back in love with height in your borders!